Nest Learning Thermostat

Pros: Nice design. east set up. 150 dollars CPS reward!! Cons: nothing so far. Overall Review: It took 5 minutes to install on old setup. I worried about the wires before receiving this product, but installing was so smooth and easy.

Pros: – Beautiful Design – User Friendly Interface – Easy Install – Auto-Away Feature – Monthly Reports emailed to you – Family Device setup (see Other Thoughts) Cons: – Price is still a bit on the high end. I still think the IoT is still geared toward us geeks though (as is the smartwatch). Overall Review: Man, this thing looks sexy. That was my first thought. It’s sleek and modern (or is it contemporary) in it’s design. It looks great on the wall and we love it as an addition to our hallway. So the main question would be is this thing a good looking, very pricey thermostat or does it offer more. If you ask me, it offers a lot. Install: The install is a breeze. You can pull your current thermostat off the wall (if you have that option) and look at the existing wires. I took a picture of my wires and their respective labels and went to Nest’s website to enter the wires I had in my configuration (there’s a tool that will analyze your home’s setup). It then told me if I was either compatible or not. I was. It also showed me a wire diagram of how the new unit should be wired. Awesome! All hardware and even a screw driver was included in the box. There’s an optional backplate that is included that you can install to hide any ugliness from the previous thermostat. We used it. As the previous install was rough. ROUGH. It’s white and I imagine that you can paint it to match your walls. Setup: The setup is a breeze. Wait, I just said that about the install. Really, this thing is easy guys. The worse part about setup is if you have a super long WiFi password. This password may contain upper and lower case letters, numbers, special characters… and spaces. Geez… The Nest works with that type of security. It just takes a bit to wheel and press through the password menu. You get used to it and will only have to do it once (unless you change your password… AHHHHHHHH!). Usage: I won’t bore you with the trials and errors of this device. I will tell you what I’ve learned from my family’s situation and lifestyle. – My wife is a stay at home Mom and runs her own business out of our home. Her schedule is not the same each day… EVER. I am however, gone each day through the week at a set time. That being said the auto-learn function does get confused trying to learn your habits. I read previous reviews saying this thing costed the home owner money. Nope, you just have to learn how to use it. I turned off the auto-learn function because I don’t expect this device to learn erractic schedules. I’ll give you an example of how this thing learns your crazy habits. There was 2 cold nights in 3 weeks that my wife woke up and put the thermostat on some crazy temperature. The thermostat responded and warmed the house up and made her happy. Well, the Nest was paying attention to her and made adjustments to it’s pattern of warming the house (it was Winter at the time). It then began heating the house up (to the surface of the Sun) at the time my wife made adjustments when she wasn’t setting it. IT WAS LEARNING. What I’m saying is, this is a learning thermostat. If you throw random usage at it, it will give you undesired results. If you are on a schedule, built like a machine, and never change… keep the auto-learn on. But for the most of us humans… turn it off. That is the only issue I’ve had. It’s not an issue per se, but more an incorrect usage by end-users (home owners). – The mobile app is amazing and let’s me add my user along with my wife’s user account as a family. You can also add each device (such as my phone and her phone) to the device list and then tell the app to monitor the devices. If both devices are away from the home via GPS, the Nest goes into an Away mode (that you program) until you return. AWESOME. This mode will allow you to set a threshold regarding temprature. Having the ability to change the temp while away is terrific as well as making changes to the environment. I don’t think we are ready to let robots control everything in our daily lives but the Nest is a great addition to the IoT. It still needs much needed iteraction and still can only “guess” what you want when auto-learn is on. I’d like to see the price tag come down, but I love this device and can’t wait to see what happens with this device.